Next Opponent

The soccer news starts with what we already know. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will have 48 teams. That's approved and set as the Confederations work through what happens with qualifying. What isn't so sure is whether or not the 2022 World Cup goes ahead at 32 or 48 teams.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino highlighted that uncertainty in comments to the Asian Football Confederation. "Will it happen in . . .

At a meeting of the FIFA Council in Rwanda on Friday, world soccer's governing body advised against La Liga playing a game that counts in Miami. The proposed game in January between Girona and Barcelona requires the consent of multiple parties in world soccer's governance including FIFA's.
"Consistent here with the opinion already expressed by football stakeholders committee, the council . . .

The soccer news starts with the latest on the potential for FIFA and UEFA squaring off over the plans for the revamped Club World Cup and global Nations League. FIFA wants both tournaments as a package they'll sell in part to outside promoters for $25b. UEFA would prefer that doesn't happen.
In the NY Times, Tariq Panja has this moving forward with FIFA insisting on their plan even with UEFA's . . .

Tuesday's soccer news starts with the latest in Spain's La Liga attempting to play a game that counts in the United States as soon as this January. La Liga has a deal in place, but received pushback from the Spanish federation, the Spanish players' union, and now FIFA itself.
ESPN's Adriana Garcia has a statement from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. He isn't exactly thrilled with the idea of . . .

Friday's soccer news starts with a suggestion. If you really want to understand how contemporary soccer operates, you should spend some time with two books. Neither of them has anything to do with the game on the field. No histories of tactics or attempts to quantify what might happen over the next 90 minutes through the creative application of statistical modeling.
Red Card by Ken Bensinger is . . .

We start the soccer news with FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirming something that makes sense from a global perspective. FIFA's leader isn't necessarily a fan of closed leagues and strict economic systems.
Speaking to SI.com's Brian Straus and The Washington Post's Steven Goff following a visit to the White House, Infantino said, "But personally, coming from a different background, I . . .

The soccer news starts with FIFA releasing their list of nominees for The Best Men's Coach 2018 award. This award includes national teams, and best of luck to Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov, England's Gareth Southgate, Belgium's Roberto Martinez, Croatia's Dalic Zlatko, and France's Didier Deschamps. It's not exactly a shock that these are the World Cup semifinalists plus Russia. We're going to . . .

Friday's soccer news starts with the obvious. The World Cup concludes on Sunday (11am ET - Fox) with France vs Croatia and FIFA's president Gianni Infantino already letting us know that this is the best World Cup ever. Wait, what?
"Since a couple of years I was saying that this will be the best World Cup ever," FIFA said. "Today I can say it even more, with more conviction... It is the best World . . .

The soccer news starts with another round of angst over instant replay at the 2018 World Cup. Should Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo have seen red against Iran? Would the final day of the group stage played out differently if it wasn't for the referees opting to reconsider their decisions? These questions and more in soccer's latest soap opera.
BBC Sport looks at those latest examples calling . . .

By J Hutcherson (Jun 19, 2018) US Soccer Players - Once again, instant replay is an issue. Added late to the World Cup, what FIFA wants the world to refer to as Video Assistant Referee, or VAR, is already inviting fans to come up with alternative colorful acronyms. For fans of soccer leagues using instant replay, this isn't surprising.
There's an old software concept that goes like this. . . .